August 23, 2009
Here and There
This weekend as we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Dell Assunta Society is running it’s 99th feast. And there are people who come over to the feast grounds for just one thing. They’re not interested in the rides or the entertainment -- they come for the food. The members of the Dell Assunta Society make home made specialties, and then there’s the zeppole booth.
What is the attraction of these fried pieces of dough? Well for one thing, it’s not something you’re probably going to make at home. You can’t buy them ready-made at the store, and when they’re hot and fresh, they’re delicious! They are best when you get them at the feast.
It’s like that with the Eucharist too. You can’t get communion just anywhere. It’s not something you can do at home and you can’t get communion in a store. When we hunger for God (and when don’t we?) there is one best place where we can feast on God as true food -- church.
Jesus tell his followers in today’s gospel that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink. They are having a hard time understanding and accepting this on face value. (If we heard someone talk that way, we’d have a hard time too.) But Jesus is serious: if his followers want to share in divine life, they must consume God.
I often wonder why so many people stay away from communion each week. There will be folks who won’t miss the visit to the zeppole booth, but they’ll have by-passed the chance to feast on the Bread that “comes down from heaven.” People will come to a feast mass, with all its joy and processions, etc., but then will go without receiving Christ for many weeks or months. So far, I can’t figure it out. “We’re too busy,” some tell me. But that’s not really true. We’re never too busy for what we really value.
How blessed are we to live in a country and a community where the Eucharist is available all the time (eleven times each weekend at St. Brigid’s.) In some parts of the world, there are so few priests that people cannot celebrate mass each week. Let’s not take the gift we have for granted.
